Opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Critically discuss Essay

Opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Critically discuss this statement and explain how entrepreneurial opportunities are identified - Essay Example Entrepreneurial ventures provide more jobs than large firms. In the 70s and 60s, small enterprises had a net gain, despite severe recessions, in job creation. In the US, small firms account for two thirds of jobs created in the private sector (Sahlman, 2009 p26). Interestingly, over the same period, an approximated 500 companies lost five million jobs. Small and medium enterprises provide the local population with employment. This helps promote the development of such areas as inner cities. Sponsorship of local events also helps discover new talent which when developed proves beneficial to the local economy. Entrepreneurial opportunities can be defined as situations whereby new organizational methods, markets, raw materials, services, and goods can be introduced to existent ways of business operations. The introduction is via formation of new ends, means or means-ends relationships. The situations do not require a change in economic exchange terms in order to become entrepreneurial opportunities. Rather, all they need is potential to change the economic exchange terms. Entrepreneurial decisions, unlike satisfying or optimizing decisions, are creative decisions. This means that the entrepreneur creates the ends, means, or both in the chain. The creation of these frameworks of new means-ends in entrepreneurial making of decisions marks a crucial difference in optimization of previously established frameworks. They cannot be optimized for exploitation since they are unknown. Entrepreneurial decisions involve identification or creation of new ends or means previously undetected by participa nts in the market (Audretsch, 2010 p67). This paper aims to explain the role of opportunities in the process of entrepreneurship. It also seeks to examine entrepreneurship through a framework focused on the existence and characteristics of entrepreneurial opportunities. Finally, the paper seeks to discuss

Paper Cash vs. Accrual Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Paper Cash vs. Accrual Accounting - Essay Example Only cash payments and cash receipts are recorded. The two methods are similar in the sense that their balance sheets include both liabilities and assets. The cash accounting is common among small business owners. For businesses that record annual sales of more than five million dollars or keep an inventory of items they to sell to the public, the accrual method is prescribed (Pinson, 2007). It is easier to grasp the principles of cash accounting as compared to accruals accounting. It is also cheaper to hire accountants for cash accounting as opposed to the accruals method. In planning tax, the cash accounting is preferable by businesses because they are taxed basing on their present cash flow and not accounts receivables (Pinson, 2007). Question Two The benefit of the accrual method is that it is good at matching expenses and revenues. This method also presents a more accurate status of a company’s financial position since its financial statements are more detailed (Bragg, 20 10). The balance sheets also contain more entries because they list non cash entries too. However, the disadvantage is that it is poor at keeping track of cash. Since revenues are recorded when a business transaction takes place, the business statement will indicate that revenue is generated even without the bank account having money. The situation is more made complex by slow paying clients. The accruals method is tedious in the amount of work needed to acquire data. It also needs more resources to operate (Bragg, 2010). Conversely, the benefit of the cash accounting method is that it is good at tracking cash flow. It is also easier to work on data and produce statements in the cash accounting. However, its disadvantage is that it is poor at matching money put out for expenses with earned revenues (Bragg, 2010). This situation poses a difficulty when a company buys items in one month and sells them in a different month. For example, a business buys an item in January intending to s ell it then later pay USD 100 in cash. However, it is sold in February at USD 150 and the cash is also received in February. At the end of January when the books were closed, the USD 100 had to be reflected, although there was no revenue to match it, hence, indicating a loss. February will, therefore, indicate USD 150 as profit, yet the true profit is USD 50. Question Three Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) prescribe the accruals method as opposed to the cash method because accruals method conforms to recognition of revenue, cost and match principles (Pinson, 2007). The accruals method is also practical because it captures financial implications of economic activities in the accounting periods they occur, whether cash is received or not. Accruals method is also the method of choice for GAAP because of the accuracy of its financial reporting in complex business transactions. The accruals method acknowledges that projects and credit sales impact a business’ financ ial status at their time of occurrence, hence the need to reflect such transactions on the financial statements of same period within which they take place. The accruals method recognizes a sale when a client takes up ownership of a product or a service is delivered and increases the company’s revenue at that time even if cash is not yet the account (Pinson, 2007). Question Four The United States Federal

Southwest Airline Essay Example for Free

Southwest Airline Essay Southwest Airlines was introduced in Texas on June 18, 1971 with three Boeing 737 airplanes and only serving three cities of Texas which included Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. The company came a long way since 1971; today Southwest Airlines has 537 Boeing 737 airplanes and serving 68 cities around the US. Southwest Airlines has become a major airline in 1989 when it hit the billion-dollar revenue mark. Southwest Airlines is the United States’ most successful airline due to the low fares, high frequency, and point-to-point carrier. According to the Southwest Airlines Fact Sheet 2010 â€Å"Southwest operates more than 3,200 flights a day coast-to-coast, making it the largest U. S. carrier based on domestic passengers’ carrier as of September 30, 2009†. As June 2011, Southwest Airlines has become the top airline to carries the most domestic passengers in the US. Southwest Airlines in 2013 has expanded their destination to 86 cities in 42 states and Puerto Rico. The current CEO of Southwest Airlines is Gary Kelly and his vision for the company is â€Å"to connect people to what important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low cost air travel†. According to the swamedia.com â€Å"Gary is a 27-years Southwest veteran who began his career at Southwest Airlines as Controller, moving up to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance, then Executive Vice President and CFO, before being promoted to CEO and Vice Chairman in July 2004. Gary assumed the roles of Chairman and President in 2008. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a CPA for Arthur Young Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc.† Gary has received many awards during his 27 years with the company and twice being named CEO of the year by D CEO Magazine’s. Also, he was named of the best CEO in America by Institutional Investor three times. According to the Sawmedia.com â€Å"Gary was selected as Dallas Business  Journals CEO of the year for 2011. In 2010, Gary was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, Gary will be inducted into the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame at the University of Texas at Austin; Gary is the recipient of the 2013 Father of the Year Award; and Gary is the recipient of the 2013 McLane Leadership in Business Award at Texas AM University.† According to Gary Kelly and SouthwesAirlines.com their mission statement â€Å"is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual price and Company Spirit†. They have been operating their business exactly as their mission statement. They have been so successful due largely to the usual focus on their employees. LUV and FUN is the program which Southwest has created for their employees and their focus on customer service which they have to show respect for one and another, represent the company and create a comfortable, relax and fun working environment. Southwest Airlines’ Strengths Southwest airlines has many strengths’, but one that brings in profit to the company in a major way is their customer service. Southwest airlines has the highest quality of customer service that is delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. That statement is not only their motto, but also their way of making a profit. Southwest brand their name on good customer service. They have been admired to be the third top ranked airline in the U.S and the tenth in the airline industry. Buyology and an online research marking company evaluated 4,000 men and women, with four key parameter of a company; the awe, the superiority harmony and exploration of a company to rank the top ranked company. According to www.southwestonereport.com, â€Å"220 brands and companies were studying during this evaluation the company were matched by numerically with strength and weakness. With relation with Southwest airline consciously and unconsciously Southwest airline earned the top spot for 2012.† Not only do bag fly free Southwest airline was the first airline to offer senior discounts, ticketless traveling, and services for air freight delivery to the common traveler. Southwest airline offers credit based on the number of trips with the airline instead of the total miles traveled also understanding the not how far you fly it’s how many times you fly with  Southwest airline. As Southwest’s major strength is the customer service making a profit is another strength that has sustained them. In 2012, Southwest airline marked the most profitable airline in U.S airline industry unmatched for over 30 years. These profits is the results of the exemplary customer service that Southwest airline has making over 421 million dollars in 2012 alone. Another major strength is Southwest airlines website. During the second quarter of 2013, 80 percent of Southwest airline passenger revenues were booked via southwest.com. In addition to flights, customers are able to make car, hotel, cruise, and complete vacation package reservations on southwest.com. Southwest airline has the Southwest Shortcut feature on southwest.com, which is the first online tool that helps customers find the lowest fare based on availability across the entire month. Southwest airline has many strengths, but as southwest airline put it in a nut shell its all about. According to www.southwestonereport.com, â€Å"Southwest continues to differentiate itself from other carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by nearly 46,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers each year among 96 destinations in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and five near-international countries all at low far.† Southwest Airlines’ Weaknesses Southwest Airlines has become one of the top airlines in America, it is the number one airline that carries domestic passengers around the state. Southwest Airlines have followed their CEO leadership, they do what they are supposed to do and they are carried on their mission statement to the fullest. With that in mind Southwest Airlines could be the only perfect airline and have many advantages compare to others: as for examples low fares, beautiful flight attendants and happy employees who respect one and another. Southwest Airlines has successfully built a great, comfortable and relax workplace for their employees. Also, they have great customer service which is always their first priority. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a perfect company or a perfect person because the world that we live in right now is not perfect, so Southwest Airlines has many strengths but they are also have many weaknesses as well. The first weakness of Southwest  Airlines is within their company. Debt and operating expenses are among the tops of the company priority, according to quality-assurance.com â€Å"The company is estimated to possess $361 million of debt on their balance sheet, and until they pay down these debts it will drag significantly on their business†. Debt will drag on the business of Southwest. Also the Mounting Operating Expense can count as one the weaknesses of the company as well. The company has to pay out more for fuel because it has grown 182.30% for the average of gallon from 2005 to 2011. Unfortunately, the company also has to deal with it employees’ union because of the union has demand more services and benefits for their members, and by the end of the day Southwest doesn’t have much left money to cover their debts and expenses. The second weakness of Southwest Airline is the services provided to customers. According to businesstune-ups.com â€Å"Southwest Airlines doesn’t provide international flights, they don’t have seating options, their cargo space is very limited, they only have one type of airplane, Very short trips earn the same amount of perks as a long, extensive flight. Scrutiny of potential employees based on personality before skill could be dangerous.† Not having international flights and only have one aircraft for their services are the disadvantages to Southwest’s competitors. These days more and more passengers going out of country for their business trips which will increase profits and customers for the company. Only have one type of aircraft which is a great way to save money when the maintenance services come. Also, it is a big disadvantage for Southwest Airlines because the aircraft has a limited space for passengers’ luggage. Southwest Airlines also doesn’t have a seating chart and no business option for their passengers. It is a great way to save money for the company and as well for the passengers to get a lowest air fares as possible, but many business passengers want their own space to work on their presentations or their companies’ projects. So, without the business class option the airline will be losing out to its competitors. Another weakness of Southwest Airlines is the company only provides limited destinations for its passengers and mostly is from the South. The limited areas will limit the number of passengers who will choose Southwest as their designated airlines. It is hard and difficult to compete with other larger airlines that serve both domestics and internationally with also help them to build bigger market for their companies. Southwest Airlines’ Opportunities Now that the merger of Southwest Airline with AirTran is now complete, growth is on the rise for Southwest, its customers and employees. In the acquisition, Southwest now can handle more international destinations with its new fleet of larger aircrafts. This gives more diversity for the customer and gives Southwest the ability to keep its fares low. Southwest also gained 8,000 additional employees from AirTran and if done correctly, this merger can only improve its customer service rating. Southwest Airlines is one of the top airlines in service today; known for their strategy, dedicated work force, low fares and customer service. The competitors’ component or analysis is defined as the process of identifying the performance and marketing strategy of competitive brands or products in the marketplace. So what is it about Southwest Airlines that has put them in such an elite category compared to the competition? Southwest’s main strategy is to keep things simple. â€Å"It has never served meals, does not have advanced seat reservations, and flies only Boeing airplanes. These decisions have helped Southwest be flexible in the face of the recent decreases in airplane passengers caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the world economic crisis.† (http://teamsparksouthwest.blogspot.com) By reducing some of the amenities that other airlines offer, it allows them to reduce the amount of employee cut backs, maintain low fares while retaining employees that are loyal to the brand, ensuring a good customer experience. This strategy has allowed Southwest to have 39 years of profitable growth (Thompson). Southwest has been on the cutting edge of managing employee loyalty. In a recent interview with, Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest, he expressed that the key to a productive workforce is â€Å"Paying personal attention to each of your people instead of a formula, also to empower employees and back them up (Kelleher)† (Thompson). Over time, implementing these general tactics has reinforced a working culture at Southwest that separates them from their competition. A happy employee means great customer service, customer retention and consistently growing profit margins. Southwest airlines is known for its low fares but due to increasing fuel costs, limited destinations and people finding alternate ways of travel; ultimately Southwest’s competitive advantage of being the leader of low fares will diminish. Having fewer planes equals lower fuel costs which  is an area that Southwest is struggling with to maintain those low airfare prices. â€Å"Fuel crisis and fuel price become threats to Southwest Airlines Company. Fuel costs in 1978 averaged 37 cents per gallon while in 1979 it became 80 cents. In 1980 fuel costs exceeded $1.00 per gallon. This price hike changes the expenditure pattern of the company. Operating costs become 40% of the total budget† (MBA Study Point case study). The only true competition for Southwest is regionally. Delta out marks them in most areas but due to Delta’s concentration in the Southeast they only compete on a regional level. Delta does however fly to most of the areas where Southwest is the preferred airline. The same is not true for Southwest who has more limited destination availability. In order to compete, Southwest will need to add more destinations to their roster. Business travelers will still prefer Delta because of their perks for Business travelers which Southwest does not have. Not to have a business class excludes a whole subset of travelers that are more likely to fly on a regular basis which cuts down on profits. Southwest’s culture is centered around the customer. While in recent years they were positioning themselves as a low-cost airline with exceptional customer service; their fares have seen a slight increase but the standard for high quality customer service remains the same. They create an employee friendly environment that motivates employees to want to work hard and be the best they can possibly be for the company. Southwest’s website states â€Å"happy employees = happy customers† and this is the culture they operate with every day. Southwest airline believes that volunteering is crucial to the health of nonprofit organizations that work to meet needs in different communities. Southwest airline employees volunteer their time day in and day out for the important causes that are closest to their hearts. â€Å"In 2009, Southwest Airlines Employees volunteered more than 45,000 hours to charities across the country. In an effort to support these passionate Employee volunteers, Southwest Airlines launched the Tickets for Time program. For every 40 hours our Employees volunteer for a nonprofit organization, the benefitting nonprofit organization is eligible to receive one complimentary, round-trip ticket on Southwest Airlines for fundraising or transportation needs†(Southwest.com). Southwest Airline has an outreach program for every culture and lifestyle the employee volunteer more than 137,  000 hours. Southwest airline has an Adopt-A-Pilot program where students will  research careers and further develop life skills, while the importance of staying in school is reinforced. Southwest Airlines and AirTran pilots mentor fifth grade students and offer this program at no charge to the schools that participate in the Adopt-A-Pilot program. Southwest airline has several outreach programs that reach out to many cultures such as African- American, Asian, and Hispanic programs and LGBT. Southwest Airlines’ Treats Airline industry could be affected by many factors such as general economic environment, fuel price, airline terror acts, weather conditions and air traffic restrictions. General economic environment has an impact on the demand for travel, and therefore influences the number of flights run by Southwest. The fuel price controls the company’s costs; rising fuel price would increase the cost, and the company cannot always avoid influences of fuel price by fuel hedging. Terrorist attack incidents would both physically and psychologically affect customers and employees, which leads to a higher security cost. Weather conditions also, have an important impact on flights as well. Bad weather conditions may delay flights, increase turnaround time, and thus mark up costs. All these potential threats are faced by Southwest Airlines. Having been very successful in their operations, Southwest Airlines is surely a target of competitors’ focus. And by that, other airlines may begin co pying Southwests strategies. Though this may show that Southwest is definitely a leader in the airline industry, it is somehow disadvantageous for the company in the long run. If those airlines try to imitate Southwest’s cost efficiency strategies, they can also lower their ticket prices and compete with Southwest. Through such, competition will get tougher for Southwest and it will no longer be able to monopolize the low fare sector of the industry; and worse, there is a possibility that a big company in the future, possessing more advanced technologies and facilities, will operate using Southwest Airlines low-cost model to a wider market, which will encroach and outdo Southwest Airlines. Terrorism is one of the greatest threats for people to lose faith on the airline industry. Airline companies in the US can attest to that after experiencing the â€Å"911 Attack† in 2001 when they incurred major losses. Though Southwest was one of those airlines who did not incur a major loss, the possibility of an unforeseen terrorist aggression using airplanes is still a major threat in  the company’s operations. This is because any loss of confidence in the safety of air travel would lead to a shift to the use of other forms of transportation, leaving Southwest struggling to fill its seats. High unemployment and inflation are keeping more travelers at home; Supply and demand price elasticity of airline carriers may vary depending on the nature of the industry. The macroeconomic factors affecting the airline industry include unemployment, the economic growth in the United States, and inflation. With low economic growth, consumers are finding luxury items more difficult to purchase and airline tickets for vacations fall into that category. Unemployment contributes to a lack of vacation travelers since individuals who are not employed do not have extra money for vacation or airline tickets. Inflation also causes operating costs of the airlines to be higher which entails cuts into the profits of Southwest. Unemployment is affecting the airline industry because consumers are taking more â€Å"stay-cation† at home or vacationing to areas to which they can drive. As unemployment has risen, the airlines have laid off a much higher percentage of their people as well. Southwest Airlines’ Grand Strategies Recommendations Grand strategies, often called master or business strategies, provide basic direction for strategic actions. There are many grand strategies that Southwest Airlines can choose from when considering which match with their company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Southwest Airlines is excellent in planning their long-term goals. The above SWOT analysis proved that the company is successfully carrying out the cost leadership strategy to manipulate their competitors and boost up their company. Their mission in providing low fare cost is one of the best strategies that they have to increase their market share, and it also put a significant increase in the demand of air travel. Southwest Airlines’ rapid rewards program is brilliant, so they should continue and expand it even more. Southwest Airlines’ employees mainly belong to the Union and they are mainly full time workers. Since the Union has demanded more services and benefits for their members, the company gained limited profit. To fix this, the company should hire more part time workers instead of full time workers because if they implemented this they would not have to provide full  benefits and instead focus on gaining profit. Also, Southwest Airlines should make all flights within the states point-to-point flights, and give their employees a strict timeline to alleviate delays. This will keep an accurate time frame for customers. As far as the flight concerns, Southwest Airlines has only one dependable flight, which is very dangerous when it comes to safety, but the good thing about that is an inexpensive cost for maintaining the aircraft. The safety of the customers is very important, so Southwest should increase at least one more dependable aircraft just in case something unexpected happens to the other one. Customer service is superior for Southwest Airlines, but many of their weaknesses can give their competitor many advantages. Southwest does not offer international flights, and there are increases in demand for international flights, so they should consider flying internationally within the next 5 or 6 years, or Southwest should completely become integrated with AirTran Airline by 2014 because they could put an increase in their net income. The advantages that Southwest’s competitors such as American Airlines and US Airways have are their inflight meals, seating charts, and highly advanced technology they have available for their customers. In this case, Southwest Airlines should invest in one more jet that provides higher quality and luxurious experience for customers such as business travelers who are willing to pay extra for it. In that jet they would offer inflight meals, provide seating options when customers book their tickets, and most important of all, they have to adv ance their jet to have advanced technologies such as television. One of Southwest Airlines’ threats is a general economic environment problem like high unemployment and inflation that they cannot control. One thing that can be done is to create a program that provides customers time to pay off their ticket 5 months in advance before flying. So the customers would have enough time to pay in increments over a period of time so they do not have to worry about spending a lot of money at once. When it comes to expanding their name brand Southwest Airline should continue to increase their popularity by increasing the advertisements on both their and AirTran’s website. Since the websites are the main places where customers go to book their tickets, the company should put that into a good use by creating more advertisements, and therefore gaining more popularity. Lastly, Southwest should continue to foster its remarkable culture. The fun-loving attitude that the company has  for their customers and employees shows that Southwest has a great working environment; the dedication that the employees have for the company contributes to both the tangible and intangible benefits. â€Å"It is a true competitive advantage for Southwest Airlines.† (Terra Thompson) Conclusion As a result in performing this project, we have learned that SWOT Analysis is the key for all businesses success. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses within the company and understanding the opportunities and threats that the company has externally are extremely important in planning the strategic plans to help the business overall outlook. As far as Southwest Airlines, we have learned that the company is very successful when it comes to the superior customer services, but Southwest should definitely continue on increasing their brand by upgrading their services within their aircrafts to become more high tech. We know that Southwest is known for their low cost fair, which gave them a huge advantage of their competitors. And the fact that they are integrating with Air Trans was a brilliant idea, because they are expanding their brand through Air Trans in providing International flights, which are, in a very high demand right now. We think Southwest Airlines is in the borderline in gaining a sustainable competitive advantage if they are expanding their aircraft to fit what their customers needs and wants. References Analyzing southwest airlines [Web log message]. (, April). Retrieved from http://teamsparksouthwest.blogspot.com/2012/04/southwests-competitive-advantage.html AP News. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://traveltips.usatoday.com/kind-planes-southwest-airlines-fly-62394.html Broughtson, R. (n.d.). Southwest airline swot analysis. Retrieved from http://www.quality-assurance-solutions.com/southwest-airlines-swot-analysis.html Bruwick, L. (n.d.). Southwest airlines swot analysis powerful business assessment tool. Retrieved from http://www.businesstune-ups.com/Southwest-Airlines-SWOT-Analysis.html Case analysis: Southwest airlines. (2012, may 17). Retrieved from http://netmbastudy.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/case-analysis-southwest-airlines/ Gale Encyclopedia of Small Business. Competitor analysis. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/competitor-analysis Gary , K. (n.d.). Gary

How would Contemporary Leaders Maintain Quality Standards of Their Organizations?

How would Contemporary Leaders Maintain Quality Standards of Their Organizations? How would contemporary leaders maintain quality standards of their organizations? Qualitative methods play an important part in developing, maintaining and improving survey quality by assessing vital issues that field pre-tests and pilot surveys alone cannot address. They are better able to identify the problems experienced by respondents in answering questions because they place a more systematic and in-depth spotlight on each question and its administration, as well as routing and instructions. Quality is built into every process in the company. It applies on proactive requirements and resource management, feature a complete testing process life cycle, and provide thorough and detailed documentation. Quality Improvement is basically, the actions taken throughout the organization to increase the effectiveness of activities and processes to provide added benefits to both the organization and its customers. There is a significant relationship between productivity and quality. As a result, they expect for business as a profession, as well as about the substance of ethical dilemmas they confront in running their organization properly and ethically. To maintain quality standards of the organizations there are several keys that needs to have: (1) Benchmarking is the use of standard measurements in a service or industry for comparison to other organizations in order to gain perspective on organizational performance. (2) Continuous Improvement, in regard to organizational quality and performance, focuses on improving customer satisfaction through continuous and incremental improvements to processes, including by removing unnecessary activities and variations. (3) Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is an approach that helps identify and prioritize potential equipment and process failures. (4) ISO9000 is an internationally recognized standard of quality, and includes guidelines to accomplish the ISO9000 quality standard. Organizations can be optionally audited to earn ISO9000 certification. (5) Total Quality Improvement (TQM) is a set of management practices throughout the organization, geared to ensure the organization consistently m eets or exceeds customer requirements. TQM places strong focus on process measurement and controls as means of continuous improvement. Finally, (6) Six sigma is a quality management initiative that takes a very data-driven, methodological approach to eliminating defects with the aim to reach six standard deviations from the desired target of quality. While this is a necessary reaction in such challenging times, maintaining quality standards are essential in ensuring sustainability and future growth. Adopting internal quality is an important means to achieving competitive advantage and cost efficiencies as the entire company structure reflects commitment and value for the customers. Every single person in the organization takes part in maintaining quality standards. This allows for continuous improvement as a fundamental practice in what is rapidly becoming a stricter market in every sense of the word. Customer satisfaction is essential for any business. Working to recognised quality management standards can help you to meet customer expectations. Quality management standards provide a framework for a business to manage its processes and activities. They can help a business improve its efficiency by providing a best practice model for it to follow. To meet a quality management system standard you need to set up a system to improve the key processes you use to provide your products and services allowing you to deliver consistently on your promises. Most of the contemporary leaders understand that three factors ensure the global market competitiveness of an organization, for example: a quality product, quality customer service, and quality delivery. Leaders must champion the processes of quality throughout the organization, benchmarking successful organizations, incorporating innovations in quality, and setting standards and measurements in every department. Leaders have several tools to ensure quality. They dont have to be Master Black Belts in Six Sigma or understand all the intricacies of lean manufacturing or supply chain management to see how each improves quality. They are sold on the merits of having a quality. They know that cutting waste translates to saving time and money for the organization. It is the leaders responsibility to drive, steer, and fund the quality initiative throughout the organization. For only when top leaders fully endorse a quality initiative does it have a chance of becoming fully implemented and t he harvest days of savings can occur. Contemporary leaders collaborate and provide their organizations succession plans that ensure the growth of the organization over time. They feel that they lead at the request of the company, customers, board of directors, and stockholders. If each of these entities trust in the leader remains unchallenged, the leader should lead until he or she chooses to step down. However, whereas even the best of leaders turn the company over to a new set of watchful eyes eventually, the leader who is irreparably jeopardizing the sacred trust of employees, customers, and the public at large should step aside and let a better leader take the helm. The history of quality management, from mere inspection to Total Quality Management, and its modern branded interpretations such as Six Sigma, has led to the development of essential processes, ideas, theories and tools that are central to organisational development, change management, and the performance improvements that are generally desired for individuals, teams and organisations. The roots of Total Quality Management can be traced to early 1920s production quality control ideas, and notably the concepts developed in Japan beginning in the late 1940s and 1950s, pioneered there by Americans Feigenbum, Juran and Deming More about Quality Management and TQM history. Quality Management resulted mainly from the work of the quality gurus and their theories: the American gurus featured in the 1950s Japan: Joseph Juran, W Edwards Deming, and Armand Feigenbum; the Japanese quality gurus who developed and extended the early American quality ideas and models: Kaoru Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, and Shigeo Shingo; and the 1970-80s American Western gurus, notably Philip Crosby and Tom Peters, who further extended the Quality Management concepts after the Japanese successes More about the Quality Management gurus and their theories, including the development and/or use of the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle, Pareto analysis, cause and effect diagrams, stratification, check-sheets, histograms, scatter-charts, process control charts, system design, parameter design, tolerance design (Taguchi methodology), Quality Improvement Teams (QIT), Just In Time (JIT), Management By Walking About (MBWA), McKinsey 7-S Framework, etc. Quality improvement is basically, the actions taken throughout the organization to increase the effectiveness of activities and processes to provide added benefits to both the organization and its customers. In simple terms, quality improvement is anything which causes a beneficial change in quality performance. All beneficial change results in improvement whether gradual or radical so we really need a word which means gradual change or incremental change. The transition between where quality improvement stops and quality control begins is where the level has been set and the mechanisms are in place to keep quality on or above the set level. Thus it is very essential to raise the standard of quality. Improving quality by raising standards can be accomplished by various steps which includes organize the resources to implement the plan, carry out research, analysis and design to define a possible solution. Hence this improvement process will require controls to keep improvement project s on course towards their objectives. The controls applied should be designed in the manner described previously. There is a significant relationship between productivity and quality. The former is a measure of the firm output as compared to the input while the latter spells out the compatibility of the firm product with the consumer demands. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a zero-error approach towards improving the quality of processes and systems in an organization. TQM calls for the principle of continuous improvement with regard to all the areas of the organization. This approach calls for continuously examining quality of organizational systems rather than making it a one-time activity. TQM is an approach towards managing the productivity-quality equation in an efficient manner. In a dynamically changing business environment, organizations need to re-structure and align itself to the change. This adaptation to the change is imperative for the organization to sustain itself in the ever-changing market. Reengineering is an approach, which involves radical re-structuring in the systems, processes or philosophy of the organization in the face of an environmental change. This approach calls for continuously examining quality of organizational systems rather than making it a one-time activity. The paper touches upon the basic principles of reengineering and TQM. The quality aspect encompasses every area of a business organization. Institutionalization of best practices and a commitment to continuous improvement with regard to all areas of the organization is pre-requisite for enhancing organizational quality. Total Quality Management is an approach towards maintaining quality of processes and systems in the organization. The paper examines the quality scenario in organizations and explores the role of IT in the same. Many of the companys employees have considerable experience in their own specialist fields and, because of this, Keighley Laboratories is sometimes required to carry out failure investigations and possibly act as a expert witness if a court case results. For quite some time, picking up The Wall Street Journal meant reading stories rife with indictments of CFOs, CEOs, and accountants. Though many leaders practice good principles, clearly it is time to inspect closely what it means to lead with ethics. The world is full of strong leaders; however, leadership is a neutral term. It can be good or bad. Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao Tse Tung were regarded as good political leaders at some point in time by a certain element of the population. History has proven, however, that each was guilty of an immoral use of the tremendous power his leadership afforded him. What will history tell us about our current leaders of industry? Are they leading their companies in an ethical way? Perhaps the best barometer of achievement in this regard is the sustainable success of an organization over the long haul. For when you whittle commerce down to the point of its raison dà ªtre, you find its ethical basis. Is it not the mission and ethical imperative of every publicly held establishment to absorb the cost of doing business, produce a quality product for its customers, provide sustenance for its members, and turn a profit that can be reinvested to make the company stronger for lean times? One company has been doing this well for more than 120 years. General Electrics recent declining stock values may trouble investors, but it still was recognized as one of Fortunes 2002 Global Most Admired Companies and received the highest marks for its quality of management. Compare it to the relatively young MCI WorldCom, a company struggling in a quagmire of ethical issues, and the sustaining success of GE is clearly manifested. To get started, we will discuss the following five components of ethical leadership: communication, quality, collaboration, succession planning, and tenure. Ethical leaders set the standard of truth for every employee they lead. The moment people take leadership positions, they have an opportunity to place the highest premium on truthfulness. Recent cases of fiscal malfeasance at Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Andersen illustrate the need for every form of communication leaders put forth to be an accurate representation. Yet, leading by example cannot be the only process by which this standard is relayed. It must become a company slogan, from the accounting office to the shop floor, that Truth is Job 1. Truthful information is quality information to the CEO, board of directors, and investors. Jim Collins, a noted researcher on leadership, advises leaders to conduct autopsies, without blame, and cites companies such as Philip Morris whose executives talked openly about the 7-UP disaster. Even when statistical evidence does not reflect well on a division or the financial status of the entire company, a plan of action to thwart disaster may be implemented and several lessons learned through open communication to ensure the sustainability of the organization. Ethical Quality An ethical leader understands that three factors ensure the global market competitiveness of an organization: a quality product, quality customer service, and quality delivery. Leaders must champion the processes of quality throughout the organization, benchmarking successful organizations, incorporating innovations in quality, and setting standards and measurements in every department. Leaders have several tools to ensure quality. They dont have to be Master Black Belts in Six Sigma or understand all the intricacies of lean manufacturing or supply chain management to see how each improves quality. They are sold on the merits of having a quality. They know that cutting waste translates to saving time and money for the organization. It is the leaders responsibility to drive, steer, and fund the quality initiative throughout the organization. For only when top leaders fully endorse a quality initiative does it have a chance of becoming fully implemented and the harvest days of savings can occur. Bob Galvin, Chairman of Motorola, implemented Six Sigma throughout the company in the early 1980s. Just two years after launching Six Sigma, Motorola was honored with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Even the federal government is investigating the merits of this management tool. Several local government agencies are already using Six Sigma, and the federal government may employ Six Sigma in its war on terrorism. With a failure rate of 3.4 per million products/actions or 99.99966% accuracy, agencies would be better informed and lives could be saved if only one of every 294,000 vital pieces of information †¦ [was] †¦ erroneously discarded. Ethical Collaboration Ethical leaders need many advisors. They pick the most astute within their organizations and hire some from other companies, but they surround themselves with answers. Wise leaders collaborate to incorporate best practices, solve problems, and address the issues facing their organizations. Regrettably, the natural tendency of leaders is to draw in a close, and more often than not, closed circle of advisors. Unfortunately, the smaller the group, the less the prospect of collectively providing the leader advice on the full range of issues facing the organization. But the leader who collaborates ethically makes better decisions for the organization. How is that possible? Leaders who use ethical collaboration keep their circle of advisors more open and fluid. The objective of the ethical leader is to reduce the risks taken by the organization by assigning trustworthy experts/advisors to every situation-from RD decisions to customer-driven needs. Advisors findings determine decisions of t he leader who becomes better equipped to make judgments based on two critical elements: more feasible solutions and viable processes needed to exact the solutions. Many states suffer the woes of underfunded education. Recently, South Carolina imposed a 15% budget cut, with more cuts promised in the future. The President of Clemson University, Jim Barker, pulled in campus-wide experts in their fields to provide solutions. Robert McCormick, an internationally known economist, among others, was assigned the task of creating a fiscal roadmap to ensure Clemson would sustain itself through time. While his advisors provided him with sound solutions, Barker remained focused on the overall mission of the university and its drive to become a top-20 public university. Ethical collaboration serves another important role, however. As Barker maintains an open and fluid circle of advisors while assigning the right people to the variety of issues facing the institution, he serves to broaden his and others awareness of promising internal successors. Ethical Succession Planning If principled leaders possess a need for control, they satisfy that need by establishing strong organizational standards and operational procedures for quality and communication. Yet for the long-term success of the organization, ethical leaders must set aside issues of turf and let other leaders surface within the company, giving potential successors opportunities to exercise and build their leadership skills. Once identified, these few should be personally mentored by the leader, given opportunities for 360 ° communications, and trained for the roles they may one day assume. In his book, Good to Great:Why Some Companies Make the Leap †¦ and Others Dont, Jim Collins identifies Chrysler with many organizations that achieve greatness only to have it slip away through time. While examining the long list of organizations in his study, Collins notes that under Lee Iacocca Chrysler followed a pattern †¦ found in every unsustained comparison: a spectacular rise under a tyrannical disciplinarian, followed by an equally spectacular decline when the disciplinarian stepped away, leaving behind no enduring culture of discipline †¦ Arguably Chrysler faltered without Iacocca at the helm because he had failed to practice ethical collaboration to the point that a succession plan was devised. Ethical Tenure How long should a leader lead? Whereas the most important leader in the American government leads for 4 to 8 years, industry has no governing standard to length of tenure. Should leadership in industry, like its counterpart in government, have a shelf life? The answer lies on the conduct of the leader. Leadership expert Peter Block contends that We search, so often in vain, to find leaders we can have faith in. Further, he notes that leadership is more often rated on the trustworthiness of the individual than on his or her particular talents, and that the mission of the ethical leader is to serve the institution and not themselves. Jim Collins identifies this category of executives as Level 5 Leaders: leaders who are able to channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. Ethical leaders collaborate and provide their organizations succession plans that ensure the growth of the organization over time. They feel that they lead at the request of the company, customers, board of directors, and stockholders. If each of these entities trust in the leader remains unchallenged, the leader should lead until he or she chooses to step down. However, whereas even the best of leaders turn the company over to a new set of watchful eyes eventually, the leader who is irreparably jeopardizing the sacred trust of employees, customers, and the public at large should step aside and let a better leader take the helm. People are a fundamental component within any successfully developing organisation. Take away the people and the organisation is nothing. Take away the peoples motivation, commitment and ability to work together in well-organised teams, and again, the organisation is nothing. Conclusion Managing the ethical climate of an organization is not easy given the myriad influences, both internal and external, on the firm. Corporate ethics programs will not completely eliminate unethical conduct, nor will they resolve all of the perplexing conflicts of ethical values that arise in various social and economic arenas today. Nevertheless a Managers efforts to strengthen the ethical climate in their organizations will have real benefits for employees, for the performance of the firms, and for society at large. By legitimizing the discussion of ethical considerations in business, by standing up for ethical values despite short-term costs, by giving serious consideration to problems of conflicting values, managers and executives can contribute to strengthening their organizations and to building public trust in business. Much has been written about leadership. Regrettably, less time and thought has been afforded the concept of ethical leadership. Perhaps it is the very lack of discussion about what it means to lead with ethics that has created the current business environment of SEC investigations into improprieties, dot-com greed, and the general publics lack of faith in the stock market. Though we would have preferred that the government did not have to force the issue of business propriety through threats and legislation, apparently for some leaders fear and not moral certitude is their personal motivator. As a result, they expect for business as a profession, as well as about the substance of ethical dilemmas they confront in running their organization properly and ethically. Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organizations objectives. Considering the needs of all interested parties including customers, owners, employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a whole. Establishing a clear vision of the organizations future. Setting challenging goals and targets. Creating and sustaining shared values, fairness and ethical role models at all levels of the organization. Establishing trust and eliminating fear. Providing people with the required resources, training and freedom to act with responsibility and accountability. Inspiring, encouraging and recognizing peoples contributions. Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the organizations effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives. Structuring a system to achieve the organizations objectives in the most effective and efficient way. Understanding the interdependencies between the processes of the system. Structured approaches that harmonize and integrate processes. Providing a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities necessary for achieving common objectives and thereby reducing cross-functional barriers. Understanding organizational capabilities and establishing resource constraints prior to action. Targeting and defining how specific activities within a system should operate. Continually improving the system through measurement and evaluation.

Walter Elias Disney Essay -- Biography Biographical Disney Essays

Walter Elias Disney Disney has become a household name in American society, but most people are not aware of Walt Disney's struggles before becoming one of the twentieth century's most prominent and successful animators and film directors. Walt Disney is best know for his characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse, but his company can also be credited with achievements such as the first fully synchronized sound picture, "Steamboat Willie", the first full-color animation, "Flowers and Trees", and the first full-length animated movie, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Elias Disney and Flora Call. Walt was the youngest of four boys before his younger sister was born. At the age of five, he moved with his family away from the city to a farm near Marceline, Missouri. Walt loved his years on the farm, and his first drawings were of his beloved farm animals. Paper was scarce in the Disney household, so Walt's original drawings were done on toilet paper, one reason why his earliest works were never preserved. Around the time when Walt was eight, his mother gathered enough money to buy him a book for his drawings. Walt's father became ill, and during Elias's recovery, the Disney's three youngest children, Flora, and Elias moved to Kansas City. For more income, Elias forced Walt and his older brother and future partner Roy, to deliver newspapers. Even though there was an age difference of ten years between Walt and Roy, the brothers always remained very close. After Roy ran away, the youngest two children and the Disney parents moved again, back to Chicago, where Walt become the junior editor of his high school news paper "The Voice."... ...ied on December 15, 1966 from cancer, while Walt Disney World, in Florida, was under construction. Walt saw his company rise to greatness, but never in his wildest dreams could he imagine the legacy that he left in this world. Today, the renamed Disney Company still produces full-length animated features that children all over the world enjoy, and trips to Disney theme parks have become pilgrimages for the young and old alike. Works Cited: "Disney, Walt." Encyclopedia Britanica. http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=31135 Eliot, M., 1993: Walt Disney:Hollywood's Dark Prince. Carol Publishing Group. New York, NY. Mosley, L., 1985: Disney's World. Stein and Day Inc., New York, NY. Thomas, f. and O. Johnston, 1981: The Illusion of Life:Disney Animation. Hyperion, New York, NY. "Timeline." http://disney.go.com/DisneyChannel/z4/TheMagicIsBorn/timeline.html

Essay on Gender and School Violence -- Argumentative Persuasive Topics

  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most recent acts of violence by children have prompted us as a nation to look at the causes and possible solutions to this crisis in our schools. In fact, according to Public Agenda, a national organization that conducts public opinion research on educational issues, school safety was identified as the most important issue affecting schools by those surveyed (Johnson & Immerwahr, 1994/1995). Yet school violence does not exist in a vacuum. It is directly related to the violence in our society. And for many children, particularly those who experience family violence early in their lives, school can often be their only safe haven. In 1992, over three million youngsters were reported to child protection advocates as possible abuse victims (U.S. Department of Justice, 1992). Thus, for many children in our society, schools are often safer than the environment where they live.    Aggression and violence are the direct result of learned behavior. Our society is full of examples of violence and aggression that unfortunately have become a part of our daily lives regardless of where we live, work, or play.    Our children are both the victims and, as seen from last year's headlines, the perpetrators of violent crimes. Although there is a sharp increase in violence among girls and women, females continue to be more often victims than perpetrators of crime in our society. In a Harvard University Violence Against Women class presentation, Nancy Issac and Deborah Prothrow-Stith reported that four million women in the U.S. are severely abused every year by their spouse or partner. And 26 percent of all females who were victims of murder were slain by husbands or boyfriends, while three percent of male victims were killed... ...rns of aggression against children in general, and girls specifically in our society.    Works Cited and Consulted Bachman, R. (1994, January). Violence against women: A national crime victimization survey report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Giroux, H. (1992). Border Crossings. New York: Routledge. Isaac, N., & Prothrow-Stith, D. Violence Against Women class presentation. Harvard University: Harvard School of Public Health. Johnson, J., & Immerwahr, J. (1994/1995, Winter). What Americans expect from the public schools. American Educator, 4-13. Noguera, P. A. (1995, Summer). Preventing and producing violence: A critical analysis of responses to school violence. Harvard Educational Review. 65(2), U.S. Department of Justice. (1992, October). The cycles of violence. Washington, DC: Author. Essay on Gender and School Violence -- Argumentative Persuasive Topics   Ã‚  Ã‚   The most recent acts of violence by children have prompted us as a nation to look at the causes and possible solutions to this crisis in our schools. In fact, according to Public Agenda, a national organization that conducts public opinion research on educational issues, school safety was identified as the most important issue affecting schools by those surveyed (Johnson & Immerwahr, 1994/1995). Yet school violence does not exist in a vacuum. It is directly related to the violence in our society. And for many children, particularly those who experience family violence early in their lives, school can often be their only safe haven. In 1992, over three million youngsters were reported to child protection advocates as possible abuse victims (U.S. Department of Justice, 1992). Thus, for many children in our society, schools are often safer than the environment where they live.    Aggression and violence are the direct result of learned behavior. Our society is full of examples of violence and aggression that unfortunately have become a part of our daily lives regardless of where we live, work, or play.    Our children are both the victims and, as seen from last year's headlines, the perpetrators of violent crimes. Although there is a sharp increase in violence among girls and women, females continue to be more often victims than perpetrators of crime in our society. In a Harvard University Violence Against Women class presentation, Nancy Issac and Deborah Prothrow-Stith reported that four million women in the U.S. are severely abused every year by their spouse or partner. And 26 percent of all females who were victims of murder were slain by husbands or boyfriends, while three percent of male victims were killed... ...rns of aggression against children in general, and girls specifically in our society.    Works Cited and Consulted Bachman, R. (1994, January). Violence against women: A national crime victimization survey report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Giroux, H. (1992). Border Crossings. New York: Routledge. Isaac, N., & Prothrow-Stith, D. Violence Against Women class presentation. Harvard University: Harvard School of Public Health. Johnson, J., & Immerwahr, J. (1994/1995, Winter). What Americans expect from the public schools. American Educator, 4-13. Noguera, P. A. (1995, Summer). Preventing and producing violence: A critical analysis of responses to school violence. Harvard Educational Review. 65(2), U.S. Department of Justice. (1992, October). The cycles of violence. Washington, DC: Author.

Black & Economic Structure

1) Malcolm X spent much of his life fighting for equal rights for African Americans. Like others, Malcolm suffered from discrimination, economic suppression, and violent acts at the hands of the whites. Throughout his life, he could not escape the atmosphere of racial prejudices, as it existed everywhere from his welfare agencies to school and his family relationships. Although some form of equality exists today, many African Americans males are still continuously trying to establish themselves in society. As a young boy Malcolm participated in activities where he experienced little freedom. Malcolm was ranked number one in his class and elected class president, which shows that the school system allowed him to succeed to an extent. Malcolm had a dream of becoming a lawyer, but his English teacher quickly rejected his dream and told him he should become a carpenter, which demonstrated that whites were willing to allow black success only to a certain degree. Malcolm eventually came to an understanding that white society allowed progression when doing so did not threaten the established order of white society. Throughout his life Malcolm was seen as a â€Å"pet, mascot, and pink poodle,† which excluded him from society. He was a black student in a predominantly white school who was like a poodle in a family. He was seen as a submissive creature that represented no real threat to anyone. He was portrayed as white society’s model for how blacks should act, but white society didn’t see him as a human being in his own right. Malcolm realized that no level of accomplishment or esteem would break down the essential barrier to his acceptance and success in society. White oppression stripped him of the power and independence a normal man would experience. Although Malcolm experienced great amounts of discrimination, he was still able to succeed and become Minister Malcolm X and lead many civil rights events. In society today, the prototypical black male experience in America is extremely comparable to the life of Malcolm X. Most black men are looked down on because of the various stereotypes that exist in our society today. Many believe that if black men aren’t athletes or rappers, or if they aren’t washing dishes or waiting tables, they have no purpose in society other than being seen as inferior. Each and every day a black man experiences discrimination, but the black men who have goals and aspirations will be the ones who will make a difference like Malcolm X did. Malcolm lived through a rough time, but he still managed to make it as can every other black man in the world. ) Like Malcolm X, Washington too envied the lives of white dues to the simple fact that there was absolutely no limit placed on his or her dreams and aspirations. During his years of adolescence, Washington was very aware of what it meant to be a black man in a white society. With this knowledge, Washington was very optimistic and assured himself that whatever dreams or goals he would accomplish would be the result of hard work and persistence. Washington wrote, â€Å"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. Out of the hard and unusual struggle through which he is compelled to pass, he gets a strength, a confidence, that one misses whose pathway is comparatively smooth by reason of birth and race. † (Washington, 1901, p 39). Washington believed that if blacks strove to be impressive and distinctive they would be accepted in society. He believed that being black or any race other than the majority was an advantage because there was a better chance of achievement due to the fact that one would constantly try to overcome any obstacles. He believed that through proof, blacks would be connected with the white society. Alongside assisting African Americans in attaining economic success, Washington also had accomplishments in the field of education, in becoming the first black educator at the Tuskegee Institute. Washington was very concerned about forming connections within both the black and white communities, and achieved his goal. I believe his argument is still valid for those who actually want to make something of themselves in life and are willing to go above and beyond in doing so. Unfortunately black males are not always hardworking and persistent in trying to accomplish a goal. They tend to take the easy way out, and in doing so end up with the mediocre jobs unless they are playing professional sports or apart of an entertainment industry. Like Washington said success comes with overcoming obstacles, and I do not think blacks are willing to overcome the many obstacles they would have to face in order to become established. With the many stereotypes of black men, I do not think success would be as easy for the black man because they are already looked down upon from the beginning. ) In recent years, terms such as crisis, at-risk, insignificant, and endangered have been used with increasing regularity to describe the troubles and conditions of black males. The grounds for using such harsh descriptions of conditions that black males face is provided by a broad range of social and economic indicators, all of which point to the undeniable fact that large numbers o f individuals who fall within these two social categories, black and male, are in deep trouble. Many perceive black men as being violent and aggressive law breakers regardless of their true nature. It doesn't stop there. Some stereotypes of Blacks include being arrogant, athletic, devious, dirty, dishonest, drug addicts, incompetent, inferior, lazy, unintelligent, noisy, passive, poor, primitive, untrustworthy, and violent, and â€Å"having rhythm. † Some black men have some of the same goals and aspirations as the white man, but they too have a deep fear of rejection due to the discrimination they continue to experience in their daily lives. When the black man continuously gets rejected he is eventually going to subject himself to activities just to make ends meet, or he is going to start to believe the stereotypes set out for him. When you have a large group of black men in a society that rejects them, they are going to feel like they have no chance at success, and therefore they will feel like they have nothing to lose. With nothing to look forward to, they are going to unconsciously want to destroy their surroundings. Throughout Malcolm’s he was seen as inferior, and eventually began to feel more like a â€Å"mascot† or pet than a human being equal to those around him. Malcolm had dreams of becoming a lawyer, but his teacher instead told him he should be a carpenter. One of his Malcolm’s teachers laughs at him and tells the class that â€Å"though the slaves have been freed, black people are still lazy and dumb. † When an adult says something like that to a child, the child is more than likely going to believe the teacher and begin to think of him or herself as being lazy and dumb. If a child begins to believe this negative stereotype, their performance in school could be effected, and cause them to drop out. If they drop out they may begin to deal drugs or commit robberies and end up in jail. Dealing drugs or being incarcerated is the perception whites have for blacks today. Media also has a negative effect on portrayal when it comes to representing an entire race of people. No two people are exactly alike no matter what race they come from so there is no way one film can represent all peoples. Unfortunately, many people believe that a certain depiction of black people characterizes all black people, which is certainly not the case. This is very dangerous because this perpetuates stereotyping and discrimination. Any form of media, whether it be a film, TV show, etc. , black males tend to play the role of the poor black man who lives in poverty and usually belongs to a gang. He usually has no goals, and has a mediocre job if he has one at all. They usually dress in baggy jeans with long shirts or â€Å"hoodies† and wear timberlands or sneakers. In media, blacks aren’t usually portrayed positively, and even if they were, many wouldn’t believe that is how blacks really live their lives. For example, In The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the Banks family is very well off, but many wouldn’t believe that all blacks are well off because 95% of the time blacks are being potrayed as being a threat to society. 4) LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton shows the disadvantaged life of residents living in the Mississippi Delta. The documentary shows how living in poverty and the lack of education still effects the lives of many living in Mississippi even though slavery has been over now for hundreds of years. The main character, Laura Lee (LaLee) Wallace, was an illiterate 62-year-old woman who had been living all her life in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. She had one surviving son, nine daughters, 38 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. On a daily basis she encountered many difficulties from raising her grandchildren to receiving news about her son continuously being put in jail. LaLee received $494 from her disability benefits and sold home cooked meals to workers at the cotton factory to make more money to keep the children clothed and fed. In the movie LaLee said, â€Å"I cry sometime, I pray sometime, I sing sometime. † LaLee and her grandchildren struggled each day in trying to take care of each other. The images of barefoot children playing on abandoned cars outside dilapidated motor homes, and of families who get water for drinking and washing by filling plastic jugs from a hose were unbelievable because it took you back to the times of slavery when slaves really had to wash themselves with dirty water or walk around barefoot. One of LaLee’s grandchildren, nicknamed Granny was a very attentive and intelligent in school, but her grades began to fall due to the fact that she had household chores and had to care for her younger cousins or siblings which left little time for education. Paralleling LaLee's struggle was Reggie Barnes, the superintendent of the West Tallahatchie schools, who continuously struggled in trying to raise school standards, bring in qualified teachers and obtain school supplies. If Barnes failed to raise the school from its current Level 1 status to a Level 2, the state of Mississippi has threatened to take over. Barnes and his faculty opposed this because they knew the state would not address the special needs of the children. With the illiteracy of the parents of the families of the children the children most likely will never be able to get a great education which will leave them illiterate when they get older. In LaLee’s family the cycle of living in poverty and lacking education is evident, which makes it seem like slavery still exists to this day.